LAND on Exmoor looks set to be sold to help fund a £2 million project to restore an important historic farm estate.

The national park authority (NPA), which is facing a budget crisis with a predicted deficit of more than £250,000 by 2026, has committed to investing in the 800-acre Driver Farm holding on The Chains, near Simonsbath and the Pinkery outdoor education centre.

Now, the authority has earmarked seven parcels of property for sale which it estimates could raise £550,000.

Head of finance and operations Ben Barrett said each had protections such as a Site of Special Scientific Interest designation which meant little could be done to them.

He said that Exmoor was unusual because the authority owned seven per cent of the national park, more than most others.

One earmarked site, the 138-acre East Anstey Common, used for grazing or common land, already had a prospective buyer.

Mr Barrett said: “Driver Farm is one of our biggest estates, right in the heart of the moorland, connected to an outdoor education centre.

“It had been tenanted, but the tenant family said they wanted to relinquish it, so ENPA members and officers discussed what to do with the farm, and decided, rather than securing a new tenant, that we would try to access various schemes to help support the site.”

The park authority recently applied to itself for planning permission to start renovation works at Driver Farm, which it considered was ‘highly significant’ to the heritage of Exmoor.